Bobcats heal up during bye week, host Troy for homecoming game

With seven games underneath their belt, Texas State will finally catch a break as the Bobcats head into their bye week.

Though the preparation for Texas State’s upcoming Homecoming game against the Troy Trojans has started, Head Coach G.J. Kinne said he is focused on making sure the Bobcats will be 100%– both on the field and in the classroom.

“It’s about recovery and academics,” Kinne said. “Our coaches have done a really good job of putting together a base game plan and we started putting together a little bit of third down play against Troy. But we don’t want to get too ahead of ourselves. We have a lot of coaches on the road recruiting and that type of deal.”

Though the injuries were not serious, the bye week came at the right time for Texas State.

“It wasn’t injuries that are season long, it’s just [those] banged-up type of deals,” Kinne said. “Ankles, hamstrings, quads and those kinds of stuff. These last couple days have been really good getting our bodies right, our academics right and focusing on Troy.”

Heading into a pivotal game against longtime rival Louisiana Monroe, the Bobcats were in an uphill battle, as Texas State was trying to heal up their bumps and bruises.

Despite the Warhawks going up 20-9 with less than nine minutes left in the game, Texas State scored 12 unanswered points to not only defeat Louisiana Monroe, 21-20, but also to seal the program’s first five-win season since 2014.

“Give a lot of credit to Monroe,” Kinne said. “They have really good players and coaches. We were just so banged up going into that game. You could feel it at practice that we were just trying to hold on. It was let’s find a way to win this game, get to the bye week, and get healthy.”

Kinne was also honored this week as he was named to the Paul Bryant Coach of the Year Watch List.

“It was like sitting up on the stage at the coaches convention with all those guys,” Kinne said. “It was just one of those surreal moments. Seeing your name with all those legends, greats and guys that I’ve looked up to for a very long time. That is what I told my dad, that it was really cool. Sometimes you can brush it off but that was a really cool honor.”

cmcwilliams@sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc